


Always There

by Kayim



Category: Primeval
Genre: Multi, Spiders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-19
Updated: 2012-02-19
Packaged: 2017-10-31 10:36:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/343056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kayim/pseuds/Kayim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first thing that Becker became aware of when he regained consciousness was Connor Temple.  With the paralytic running through his body and his thoughts messed up inside his head, Becker came to the completely illogical realisation that it was always Connor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Always There

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lightly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightly/gifts).



> Beta'd, as always, by Siluria.

The first thing that Becker became aware of when he regained consciousness was Connor Temple. With the paralytic running through his body and his thoughts messed up inside his head, Becker came to the completely illogical realisation that it was always Connor.

*

_An Hour Earlier..._

"I can't do it. I can't go through there." 

Becker watched as Abby visibly shuddered at the thought. Arachnophobia was listed on her personnel file, so he'd known that this was going to be a tough one for her to deal with, but he hadn’t quite expected the outright panic in her eyes.

She shook her head, short blond spikes barely moving, and backed away from the anomaly. Danny was the one who intercepted her before she hit the wall. He placed his hands on her shoulders, smiling at her in that irritating way he had that made it look like he was laughing at the world. Easing her backwards, he guided her towards one of the large metal containers and sat her down. She leaned forward, her breath ragged and desperate. "It's fine," he assured her. "You stay here with Sarah, we've got this one."

"Yeah, Abby," Connor said, his gaze alternating between the anomaly and Abby, as if trying to decide whether he wanted to stay or go. "We'll be back, like, really soon and we can lock this one down." 

Abby just nodded, her whole body visibly relaxing. Sarah sat next to her, resting one hand on the other girl's back. "We'll cover things at this end. Just go get Becker's guy back."

They'd made it to the anomaly site before anything had come through, but they hadn't been fast enough locking it. A creature that Connor insisted could only be part of the Nephila genus from the Jurassic came through, larger than anything that should have existed in that period, and grabbed the nearest warm body, a soldier named Jameson. 

Connor was pretty sure that the creature would prefer to keep its prey alive for a while before eating it. Becker hadn't bothered to ask Danny for permission to go through the anomaly, and Danny wouldn't have refused it anyway. But they weren't risking any more people than necessary.

"Okay, so it's just the three of us this time," Danny said, double-checking the clip in his gun. "We get in, we locate Jameson and we get out. No heroics," he added, glancing at Becker.

Becker raised his eyebrows. "Wouldn't dream of it, Quinn."

Connor hefted the flame thrower so the strap sat neatly on his shoulder, grinning as he slid his hands along the barrel of the weapon. Becker still wasn't happy giving him a gun, but he equally wasn't prepared to send him in unarmed. The flame thrower was still a serious piece of weaponry, but Connor had proven himself with it on more than one occasion. Becker just hoped that none of them were going to end up with scorched eyebrows. Right now though, Connor accidentally flambéing one of them was the least of his worries. The soldiers working under his command in the ARC were his responsibility and he had a duty to keep them as safe as the civilians. He wasn't going to let Jameson down.

Danny stepped forward, gesturing for Becker to take point. "Let's go then."

*

The anomaly opened into a dark cavern. With only the tactical lights on their guns to illuminate the blackness, the three men stuck close together, with Becker still in the lead and Danny bringing up the rear. Connor stayed between the other two, his nervous chatter continuing even as they walked.

"Did you see how huge that thing was? Its legs must have been at least 2 meters long. And those eyes? Oh god. It just picked Jameson up like he was a doll..."

"Connor. Enough." 

Becker threw an appreciative nod at Danny. He wasn’t ready to admit out loud how worried he was, but Connor’s constant muttering wasn’t helping to calm his nerves. He had long ago accepted that this job could end in death, including his own, and all of his men knew that. But the idea of being captured alive and left in some prehistoric period to fend for themselves was something that terrified all of them. They had an unspoken pact, all of them. No one got left behind. 

"Shit." The cavern split into two identical tunnels, both equally dark. "Which way?"

Danny stepped past Connor to stand alongside Becker. The pair of them swept their lights in each direction, looking for a clue. The tunnels seemed to go on forever with no evidence as to the route the arachnid had taken Jameson. 

Becker shook his head. The answer was obvious, if somewhat irresponsible. "We’ll have to split up. Connor, you’re with me. We’ll take the right one. Danny, you take the left. Constant radio contact." 

Danny hitched his gun higher on his shoulder, securing it before he set off. Becker knew he didn’t have to warn Danny to be careful – if there was anyone else on the team who could look after themselves it was Quinn – but he did so anyway. "Take care. Any problems, get back to the anomaly."

"Faster than a speeding bullet," Danny grinned, sharing a brief hi-five with Connor. 

Becker rolled his eyes at the pair of them and nudged Connor forward. "Come on, Clark Kent. Work to do."

The shocked expression on Connor’s face was enough to make Becker smile. The rest of the team might have their mental ideas of him being interested in nothing but guns (which he had to admit was mostly correct), but he did have a soft spot for comic books.

As Danny headed down the left hand tunnel, Becker stepped forward into the darkness of the right hand one, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Connor was following and not just gaping at him. 

"Never took you for a Superman fan," Connor said, his voice quieter than before. He was following a little too close to Becker for his personal comfort and a little too far back for his professional comfort. 

"I’m actually more of a Batman kinda guy," Becker replied, wishing he could see the look on Connor’s face. "That whole boy scout thing can get a bit repetitive. I prefer my heroes to have a little more ambiguity to them."

Becker waited for some kind of response from Connor, expecting him to launch into some Batman vs Superman argument, but instead he heard Danny’s voice over his earpiece. "I’ve found Jameson. I’m sorry." 

Becker felt his stomach lurch and turned around to tell Connor they were done. His tac-light illuminated Connor’s pale face, eyes were wide, mouth open. Connor was staring over Becker’s head. 

Becker swallowed hard, raising his gun slowly until the beam of light followed Connor’s gaze.

He was already firing as the spider leapt towards them. "Connor! Run!" he yelled as he stepped in front of the other man, hoping he could hold the creature off for long enough that Connor could make it back to either the anomaly or Danny. 

The last thing he was aware of was the sound of Connor screaming his name and the excruciating agony of a pair of fangs piercing his shoulder.

*

Becker regained consciousness slowly. His hearing was first and the sound of Connor hurling abuse at the spider was both torture and bliss. He wished that Connor had, for once, listened to him and run, but he couldn’t help a wave of gratitude that he’d stayed.

"You stay back you disgusting creature," Connor was shouting, punctuated by the sound of a flame thrower being activated. "I’m not letting you have him."

With some effort, Becker managed to open his eyes, and saw Connor standing with his back to him. He had the flame thrower aimed at a spider hanging from the ceiling of the tunnel, its legs swiping out. Each time the creature got too close, Connor blasted another stream of fire, causing it to back away. It was staying just out of reach of the flames, leaving an uncomfortable status quo between Connor and itself.

Becker tried to open his mouth to call out to Connor and tell him just to go, but he couldn’t move. He tried his fingers, his toes, his goddamn nose, but nothing happened. He felt his heartbeat speed up in his chest as he realised it was the paralytic from when the spider had bitten him. He tried to speak, hoping that by some miracle he could force the words out of his throat by sheer willpower, but all that came out was a soft breath that wouldn’t be heard by anyone. 

He moved his eyes enough to see down the length of his body, seeing the silvery white threads of a web wrapped tightly around his body. Even if he could have moved, there was no way he was getting himself free. He was tied up tighter than a Christmas turkey and had no feeling in any of his extremities.

In front of him, Connor was still fighting against the spider. Through his earpiece, Becker could hear Danny’s constant reassurance that he was on his way, that he’d be there soon, that Connor just needed to hold on. Danny sounded calm but Becker recognised the slight hitch in his voice as he spoke.

"You already fucking killed Becker," Connor screamed at the spider. "I will _not_ let you take his body."

_I’m not dead_ , Becker wanted to shout out. _I’m still alive_. He didn’t even want to think what Connor was feeling. After the deaths of Hart and Cutter, the whole team was still reeling, Connor most of all. And now, for him to think that Becker was dead as well...

But there he was, standing defiantly in front of a prehistoric giant spider that was intent on killing them both, protecting what he believed was Becker’s dead body. If Becker wasn’t completely paralysed, and they weren’t in imminent danger of dying, he’d have hugged Connor.

The unmistakeable sound of automatic gunfire echoed through the tunnel.

"Connor! Down!" Danny opened fire on the spider, spraying round after round into its soft abdomen, but instead of ducking like Danny had told him, Connor turned his back to the spider and pressed himself close against Becker, protecting him from any stray bullets. As the mess of spider parts exploded around them, Connor had his eyes closed next to Becker’s face. 

"I’m sorry," Connor whispered too quietly for Danny to hear. His breath was warm on Becker’s cheek and the pain in Connor’s voice was clear enough for Becker’s chest to constrict. "I should have protected you better."

It didn’t take long for Danny to finish taking the spider down. As the echoes from the gunfire faded away, a silence filled the tunnel. Becker knew he needed to try once more.

"Connor..." It took every ounce of his energy to make the almost imperceptible sound, but when Connor’s head jerked up to look at him, Becker knew it was worth the effort. 

"Danny! He’s not dead!" 

There was something else that Becker wanted to say. He knew it was important, but before he could remember what it was, he slipped into darkness again.

*

The next time Becker woke up, he was lying down in a brightly lit room. His head was still spinning, and his chest still felt as though at least a half dozen ribs had been cracked, but he knew he was going to be okay.

Gingerly, he lifted his head, pausing when the nausea threatened to overwhelm him. 

"Whoa there." A hand pressed against his chest, gently easing him back to the pillows. It was Connor, he realised with a vague awareness. Connor who had risked his life for him. Who had stayed and fought for him. Who had protected him even when he’d believed there was nothing left to protect. Who looked as though he had almost lost his best friend. "Take it easy. You had me scared for a minute."

Despite the joking, Becker could hear the fear and regret in Connor’s voice. "I’m sorry we couldn’t save Jameson."

Becker shook his head and instantly regretted the movement as his vision began to swim. 

"Connor, I..." The words caught in his throat and trailed off. He wanted to tell Connor that he had done everything he could, that he had nothing, _nothing_ to apologise for. He wanted to brush his fingers against that ridiculous curl of hair that was falling across Connor’s face. He wanted to take away the pain that he saw in Connor’s eyes. 

As he laid there, every part of his body hurting and his thoughts still jumbled together, he realised that the thing he wanted most of all was to see Connor smile again.

He reached his hand out.

Connor perched himself on the edge of the bed, close enough that Becker could feel the heat of his body through the thin cotton sheet. His hand dropped tentatively on top of Becker’s, as though still not sure if he would be welcome.

Becker threaded his fingers between Connor’s, holding as tightly as he could manage. He felt a slight squeeze and saw a smile appear on Connor’s face. It was warm and bright, reaching into the dark corners like a beacon. 

"Thank you," Becker said, knowing that there was a lot more that he needed to say, but equally sure that it was as good a place to start as any.


End file.
